Institute=20
on child health, environment get backing The =
state will equip=20
the facility that Kutztown University will operate on =
campus.=20

By Adam=20
Wilson Reading=20
Eagle

Momentum=20
for what is hoped to become a leading institute to study how =
the=20
environment affects children's health picked up speed =
Tuesday with=20
financial and physical backing.

Investment in the Institute for the Advancement of =
Children's=20
Environmental Health includes a partnership between the =
state=20
Department of Environmental Protection and Kutztown =
University.=20
Under the agreement, the DEP will equip the on-campus =
institute and=20
provide technical support. The university will operate the =
research=20
center.

At a news conference Tuesday, DEP Deputy Secretary Tom =
Fidler=20
said widespread support for the institute, including =
$130,000 in=20
state and county funds, signals the start of a new era of=20
environmental consciousness in Berks County.

It's a far cry from the days when even the DEP considered =
Berks=20
County an environmental liability for which none of its =
regional=20
offices wanted responsibility, he said.

=93To think that an (environmental health) institute can =
develop in=20
a place like Berks County is tremendous,=94 he said. =93This =
is a sea=20
change from it always being the redheaded stepchild.=94

The DEP will provide air-quality monitoring equipment on =
the KU=20
campus, which is hoped to become part of a network of =
monitoring=20
sites across Berks, said Craig Hafer, chairman of the =
county's=20
Environmental Advisory Council.

The DEP also will bolster the air-quality monitoring =
station at=20
Reading Regional Airport to measure airborne levels of toxic =
chemicals and metals in addition to existing monitors for =
ozone and=20
soot pollution.

Berks County will direct the annual $100,000 payment it =
receives=20
from a lawsuit settlement with the Conestoga Landfill in New =
Morgan=20
to the Kutztown University Foundation to help finance the=20
institute's research.

Fidler said it didn't take much convincing for the DEP to =
support=20
a research institute in Berks. The county has high rates of=20
childhood asthma, an unknown health impact from a heavily =
industrial=20
past and one of the nation's highest concentrations of =
battery=20
producers.

State Sen. Michael A. O'Pake, a Reading Democrat, and =
state Rep.=20
Samuel E. Rohrer, a Robeson Township Republican, announced a =
$30,000=20
grant to advance the institute's education and outreach =
efforts.=20
O'Pake said it is high time that children were brought into =
the=20
environmental equation.

=93We go to great lengths to protect them at home and on =
the=20
playground,=94 O'Pake said. =93We even ensure there are safe =
child doses=20
of medication. But we forget about the invisible threats to =
their=20
health.=94

Rohrer said he hopes quantifiable data and research will =
lead to=20
environmental policy based on objective science instead of =
estimates=20
and assumptions.

=93Children can be used to further almost any cause you =
can think=20
of,=94 he said. =93Yet, when it comes to establishing safe =
health=20
standards, they are not often thought of.=94

=A9 =
2006=20
Reading Eagle Company, All Rights ReservedServing the Berks =
County=20
community and surrounding areas for over 130 years!This site =
contains=20
links to other Internet sites.These links are not endorsements =
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products or services in such sites,and no information in such =
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been endorsed or approved by this=20
site.